The retail industry typically implements a three layer system or architecture for network computing communications including: 1) a central office server; 2) a store server; and 3) multiple client devices (ex-cash registers). An operating system for the cash registers may be made at the central office. Further, the central office server may push the operating system (i.e., image) to the store server, with the store server acting as a local repository for the image. The store server may be low end hardware, or perhaps may itself be a cash register, thereby serving a dual role as store server and cash register.
Currently, when the cash registers of the store boot up, the cash registers download the image from the store server. However, when the image is of a large enough size, the process of downloading of the image from the store server may be slowed due to stress on the store server. As a result, it may take a long time for the cash registers to boot with the current system. Further, start up or boot times for the cash registers may differ, depending on the stress placed on the store server during the download process.
In an attempt to alleviate stress on the store server by “staggering” download demands on the store server during the download process, a current solution involves multicasting the image to the cash registers and allowing the cash registers to begin downloading the image at various points in time during the multicast transmission of the image. For example, a first cash register may begin downloading the image at the beginning of the image transmission, while a second cash register may begin downloading the image after the transmission has already begun. Further, the second cash register may then go back and download missing segments of the image from the store server (ex-image segments that were transmitted before the second cash register began downloading the image). However, current solutions may still stress the store server during the download process, thereby causing unpredictable download times of the image for the cash registers.
Therefore, it may be desirable to have a system and method for managing boot images in a retail store environment which addresses the above-referenced problems and limitations of the current solutions.